SunnySide Cafe — Restaurant in Clemson

I went to this restaurant a few weeks ago with my husband for a sit down breakfast and everything was ok. Not fantastic, just ok. This week I had an early appointment close by, in a time crunch and decided to order a sandwich to go. When I arrive to my appointment spot and took a bite. I discovered my sandwich was made incorrect. It was very disappointing in taste, but since it had the wrong ingredients I thought that was why. So I ate my small serving of home fries since I was starving and went to my appointment. Since my order was incorrect I decided to return to the restaurant to get the right sandwich instead. The hostess who had taken my order originally told me she had misunderstood me and went into the kitchen to get me a new sandwich. A few minutes later the person who had been my waitress at our first visit came over to me to question what had gone wrong with my sandwich. She seemed suspicious and quite aggressive as if I had done something wrong or shady. I explained the mistake and let her know that I had only taken one bite out of the sandwich. I was not trying to scam her or get anything free. I just wanted the sandwich I had asked for. I don't know maybe she thought returning to the restaurant was rude of me. I was very calm and spoken very little, so I really could not understand her attitude. I waited about 10 to 12 minutes when she returned with my new sandwich. She forced me to open the box in front of her and inspect the new sandwich to make sure that I could not come back and complain further. It was apparent that she had a problem with my complaint or maybe with me as a person. I don't know if she was the manager or just a waitress, but the entire experience was very uncomfortable. She made me feel unwelcome, problematic and almost like a vagrant that was bothering the staff. I don't know why I was treated like this. Perhaps they just don't like to go orders. Maybe it was because I was alone, instead of with my husband. Maybe she had an issue with me. I don't know if it was personal, racial or if she was just having an incredibly bad day. I don't really care what the reason was for her rudeness, but I know I will never go back again. Politeness and courtesy are the basics of customer service and I was shocked at how hostile this woman was towards me. As for the sandwich, it was awful. The egg and cheese were tasteless and the bacon burned beyond recognition. The bread tasted old, very stale and nothing like the sourdough it was supposed to be. Horrible. I threw it away as soon as I got the chance and regretted the two bites I had swallowed. What a waste of...

A job ad for this establishment:

9:47 A GEa 0 4 6 4 1 15% SunnySide Cafe is looking for experienced line cooks, prep cooks, and expo people. This job will not be single faceted. You will trained to work numerous stations and compensation will increase when you achieve the goals. Previous fast food employees, baristas, and institutional food service people please do not apply. This job is tough, you are going to get beat up and abused on the weekends Not by your co-workers, except for annoying servers that will mentally exhaust you). This is a true job for a true kitchen worker. If you want a challenge and think you can do it please apply. We are an extremely high volume high end brunch establishment about to go into our busiest time of the year. Quick learners please apply. All cooks are prep people, we have down time when it is slow but you will be put to task on projects if you decide that your phone is more important than your job. Self motivated people are what we are seeking. Experience with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options would be great. We also do cook meat! We are open 8am-3pm Monday thru Friday and 7:30am - 3:30pm on the weekends. If you have a family, you will always have your nights off. Plan on working every weekend for your stay at SunnySide. We obviously realize that weddings and such happen and with notice we can accommodate these requests but you are not front of the house people. You do not get every other weekend off because you want to go for a hike in the woods. Sorry not happening. Our kitchen policy is basically you are either at work, dead, or in jail and I will bail you out. I hope my message has not been to dark, we are actually a very fun place to work at, just tired of interviewing people that don't understand what people in the industry actually do and have to go thru. Pain, heat, burns, and cuts are what we we live through evervdav but at the end of the dav we can...

Sunny side has been good other times I've been. While we're certainly not regulars, we've been eating there off and on for years. I distinctly remember going a handful of times while it was still in downtown Clemson. I'm compelled to write this review because the last two times we've been, the service has been exceptionally poor. Maybe they're starting to slip;I don't know.

Regarding our experience today, we know very well that Sunny Side can be busy on Sundays, so maybe this is our mistake. On the way back from a short trip to Greenville, my girlfriend and I decided to stop in (11:00) because we needed something to eat. If there had been a line, we would have just gone somewhere else. (Un)fortunately, there wasn't. "Great, this will be relatively quick," we thought. We sat down immediately and had our order taken within a couple of minutes. 45 minutes later, neighboring tables that had their orders taken after us were finished eating, had paid, and were getting up to leave, yet we STILL hadn't been given our food. To make matters worse, the waitress never once came back to our table. We complained, asked how much longer it would be (were told another ten minutes because we had gotten stuck behind a large party), and decided to get up and go somewhere else. We managed to get bagels within five minutes of walking in the door, elsewhere.

Anyways, 2 stars because it's been good before, but this most recent experience is going to take a while to get over. It will be a while before we go back, unless I decide I'm in the mood to watch other people eat while...